SPECIFIC PRIVACY STATEMENT – Marie Curie Alumni Association

1. Introduction

As the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) collects and further processes personal data, it is subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) concerning the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data, and on the free movement of such data. MCAA data processing operations are under the responsibility of the MCAA Board (data controller), but most of the actual storage and processing is carried out by the contractor (data processor) appointed by the European Commission to assist in the running and management of the MCAA. The actions of the contractor are under the joint responsibility of the MCAA Board and the European Commission, represented by the Data Controller, Head of Unit People Programme; Marie Curie Actions at the Education and Culture Directorate-General of the European Commission.

This privacy statement explains the reason for the processing, the way we collect, handle and ensure protection of all personal data provided, how that information is used, and what rights you may exercise in relation to your data (the right to access, rectify, block etc.).

2. Why do we process your data?

The Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC) is in charge of the policy part of the People specific programme, otherwise known as Marie Curie Actions (MCA). Over the years more than 100 000 people have benefited from the programme. Being able to contact past and present beneficiaries enables the Commission to conduct surveys and follow their careers, thus assessing the impact of the programme in the long term. Such assessment is both an obligation, and a useful policy tool, allowing the programme to improve. It also allows registered users to network amongst themselves.

The processing is lawful because:

Your data is processed only after you have accepted the provisions of this privacy statement, published on the web-portal (article 5(d) of the Regulation);

Your data is related to a public interest task, namely helping mobility of researchers in Europe and worldwide (Article 5(a));

It is necessary to take steps at the request of the data subject such as providing services to members and facilitating network amongst members (Article 5(c)).

The creation and updating of a personal profile is a condition of membership under the MCAA Articles of Association that are the legal basis for the MCAA under Belgian law.

Data concerning the Marie Curie project(s) in which the member was involved; project acronym, title, type of project, EC ID number, host institution, host country and host city.

Any other data that the individual member may choose to add to their profile to assist in networking with other members.

5. How long do we keep your data?

The data will be retained for as long as the MCAA exists, and for as long as you are a member of the MCAA, or until you decide to resign from the MCAA. You can erase your data by resigning from the MCAA. In order to resign:

Log in as member

Visit your profile page

Click to the red ACTIONS button to the right of the page

Select ‘Edit account’

Fill in the “resignation form”

A confirmation request to cancel your account will be sent to your e-mail address

Click on the cancelation link of the received email and your account will be deleted.

If you want to resign from the MCCA, and for any reason you are unable to log in to your MCAA account to resign, you may also send an e-mail message of resignation to board@mariecuriealumni.eu stating your name (under which you registered) and your reasons for wishing to resign. You may also write to MCAA, c/o Inova+, 24 avenue des Arts, 1000 Brussels, Belgium”.

Please note that the termination of your MCAA membership eliminates immediately all membership rights and privileges, including eligibility for micro-grants, etc., and should you wish to re-join the MCAA, your length of membership would start again at zero (meaning you would not be eligible for election as an MCAA official until the minimum term of membership is re-acquired).

Any content (posts, events, etc.) you may have published on the MCAA web-site will remain on the site; they will no longer be associated with your name, but and will be indicated as contributed by an anonymous user.

6. Who has access to your personal data and to whom is it disclosed?

To some extent, other MCAA members will be able to see your basic profile information and other relevant information you chose to make public, but certain information is not visible to other members, in particular your date of birth and your e-mail address.

Access to your personal data is granted to a very small number of European Commission personnel, and to the relevant staff of the appointed EC contractor, for the purpose of managing the MCAA web-site and services.

Your data will not be communicated to any third party unless you provide specific written request / consent for this (e.g. in the context of your participation in a specific event or activity organised or co-organised by the MCAA).

7. How do we protect and safeguard your information?

The collected personal data is saved on servers of the EC-appointed external IT company working under contract for the European Commission (EC). The company shall act only on instructions from the MCAA Board and/or the European Commission and shall comply with the obligations set out in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the confidentiality and the security of data processing.

8. How can you verify, modify or delete your information?

In case you wish to verify, update, or modify the personal data stored by the MCAA, please log in as a member, go to your profile page and make use of the ‘Edit profile’ and/or ‘Edit account; options in the red ‘ACTIONS’ tab on the right of the page. To totally delete your information, you must resign from the MCAA; please use the information given above.

9. Contact information

For any questions related to your rights, please feel free to contact the Controller, explicitly specifying your request, by using the ‘Contact us’ section of this web-site. You may also write to: MCAA, c/o Inova+, 24 avenue des Arts, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.

You may also contact the Data Protection Officer of the European Commission: